Saturday, December 06, 2014

Fog on the Mountain!

Hello from Quilt Villa!

This was the view as I stepped out onto the front porch this morning.

Pea Soup weather!

At least the fog is as thick as Pea Soup ---I regretfully don’t have the makings for Pea Soup up here…or the time to make it. There is a ham bone in the freezer, and I think I am going to work this in reverse order. The ham bone will go back HOME with me tomorrow and I’ll cool\k my Pea Soup there.

As far as today goes ---

My “you will never see ME doing that quilting thing” friend Mona is on her way to spend the day with me….

For quilting lesson 101!

Yes, I think she’s been bitten by the bug…

Or more like…

“If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!”

I rearranged the Quilting Nook last night!

I don’t have a huge area to sew at the cabin, but this is just right for me. A table, an ironing board, a cutting station and a small cabinet.

Oh, and the overflow:

My “Cabin Stash”

Usually I’ll transport my projects back and forth because I am working on specific things that have deadlines, but a girl can never be without her variety – so I’ve got crumbs, strings, and bigger hunks of scraps that can be cut down.

ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS keep a variety of neutrals on hand!

I’ll sew at the 301, but I’ll show Mona the ins and outs of a little 1954 Featherweight.

She says she’s never sewn at a machine before. This will be easy for her. The needle goes up and down. It stitches forward. You can make it go backward. End of story.

I don’t want to discourage her by telling her that quilters often have machines that cost many thousands of dollars. And that fabric for a quilt can cost you mucho dinero at the same time.

I have scraps. We can get her started. If she likes it, we will ease her into it ---but she has to start somewhere, and I’m glad it is here with me!

She and this sweetie will become good friends!

My plan is to start her simple.

This quilt is from a Fons & Porter book I’ve had for eons and eons. It’s got 4 patches sewn into a 9 patch format. They start with 2” strips, I’m going to biggie size this using 2.5” strips and 4.5” squares. We will start with strip cutting, and getting that 1/4” where it needs to be.

I brought her scraps in Red, Blue and Neutral!

You know, this is really exciting for me to take someone who is completely new. NO BAD HABITS. No one who will say “Well, I've always done it this way and it works for me” or “I heard so and so teacher say to do it this way…” or the dreaded "my seam allowance doesn't matter as long as I am consistent." ((That last one ONLY works if all you are sewing is squares of one size!))

She will listen to me, learn, and soak it all in. My desire is to give her a good foundation that she can grow from in her own direction, but basics are basics first.

Cut right, sew right, measure units not the seam ---quilt happy!

And while she is sewing 4 patches I’ll be making hour glass units in Christmas fabrics!

It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

The Super Cyber Sale in my online bookstore CONTINUES through 9pm EST tomorrow, Sunday, December 7th. Drop those hints to that hubby or child or friend that time is running out to get you what you really WANT for Christmas! Or Chanukah or Kwanza! Or just because. Click the BOOKS tabat the top of the blog for more info!

Also…if you are having trouble ordering, it is likely because you are on IE. Try a different browser. It’s been reported to me that those who couldn’t with whatever version of IE they were using, they were able to complete their transactions just fine with Chrome or Firefox.

If you are on a yahoo account you may get a bounced receipt, don’t worry about it – Yahoo and Gmail are not cooperating with each other and each thinks the other one is spam, but I will have your order just fine! ((Don’t you love technology!?))

WOW! What a way to start a quilting journey--with a professional! Green with envy right now! I would love to know what kind of table the 2 sewing machines are on. Can you say where you got them if you know? Thanks.

Clicked on the "you might also like" square at the bottom of today's blog. Love the Carolina Lily with the string settings ! I was not aware of Quiltville back when you posted it. Please know this old lady really enjoys reading your previous blogs, and the opportunity to pick your very scrappy brain. Thank You !

We have had Pea Soup here in Redding,CT a couple of days this week. I am going to my friends' house to sew today. I haven't seen her in about 8 weeks. Her Dad died and she needed a lot of space and time alone. I am going to work on two UFOs as leaders and enders for for each other.

Hi Bonnie! I am sure you will enjoy today as much as Mona will, especially with her Euricka moment!Please feel free to answer my question when you have time.... I ran out of blacks before finishing cutting this week's clue, how many more times will we need blacks, I will get FQs vs begging for scraps!Thanks for all you do! Leslie

Does Mona realise what a lucky bunny she is? Being able to learn right from the beginning from an expert like you? I would love to have a one to one lesson and would be very happy for you to correct my bad habits, I must have a lot. And to learn the exact 1/4" seam from you would be awesome. Unfortunately it will only happen in my dreams as I live too far away, right in the middle of England. Have a great productive day.

Wonderful news you are showing such basic starter steps, there are so many rulers, gadgets, books about that beginners are put off thinking quilting is a too hard and expensive hobby. You could have a whole new following - newbies and folk who are overwhelmed and lost their way. As said in MQ it's not a race it's fun. Discovering fabric is a joy forever!

I hope Mona's lesson went well. I love the “If you can’t beat‘em, join‘em" mentality! I once worked at a quilt shop where the owner would tell customers "The seam allowance doesn't matter as long as it's consistent" and I would bite my tongue so I didn't get in trouble. :/

Wow ~ what a very blessed and super lucky lady! :-D Welcome to the addiction and obsession "club" along with with the rest of us Bonnie fans, Mona! ;-) Y'all will have "sew" much fun sewing together up there in the beautiful and peaceful NC mountains. ☺ And, learning and sewing for the very first time on a gorgeous Featherweight = Priceless! :-D Awesome! Sew and quilt on, ladies!

I think its wonderful to bring someone new into the quilting world. Have sew much fun teaching her!! YEAH...Question for anyone The 1954 featherweight on the table looks like the perfect size machine to take to classes and retreats. Is that right? I am looking for a machine that fits that bill. If this one does I'll start looking more specific. Thank you.

Wow, Mona must be a lucky girl, getting private lessons from the wolrdfamous Bonnie Hunter! Cool you let her sew on the Singer Featherweight, that really is a friendly machine to learn it. And I bet, after this day, Mona will be as addicted to quilting as we all are. Have fun together! - Betty.